Cross Examination
by forensicsfan
Summary: COMPLETE - NS - While investigating a case, a simple question is asked and it begins to unravel a carefully kept secret. Possible spoilers.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own them, I didn't create them, and I don't profit from them, but as always, coffee with George and Jorja would be nice.

**Author's Note:** This idea came from a spoiler I read about a line in the first episode of Season 5 that is directed at Nick and Sara. I have no idea what context the line is delivered in and whether it has any bearing on the story line as a whole. However, with that said, this idea came out to play and I couldn't resist, so I really am not responsible for where it chooses to go.

* * *

"Uh, we're not." Sara gestured between herself and Nick at the question hanging in the air. The priest that they were questioning in connection with a missing person's case had asked them a perfectly innocent question and it had Sara stammering to keep a blush from infusing her cheeks.

"Married." Nick finished, trying to keep a telltale smirk from his face.

"My mistake." The priest looked at the pair of CSIs doubtfully, but decided to take them at their word.

Nick extended his hand to the priest. "Thank you, Father Ryan. We'll let you know if we have any further questions."

"It was nice to meet you, Nick. Sara." He gave each of them a pointed glance. "If you two change your minds, we're always here." It was evident to him that there was more than just a professional relationship between these two.

Sara's eyebrows shot up and she swallowed hard before pasting on a smile that was far too bright. "We've got to get back to the lab. It's been nice meeting you." With that she brushed past the priest, casting a wide-eyed stare at Nick on her way.

Nick had to restrain a chuckle as he followed her out of the church. When he got the Denali, Sara was leaning against it with her arms crossed over her chest.

She just shook her head in disbelief. "How the hell did he do that?"

Nick raised an amused eyebrow. "Maybe he's just very perceptive."

"We've kept this a secret from our coworkers for two months and he takes one look at us and asks the $64,000 question?" Sara looked incredulous.

Nick's voice was soft, but serious as they both climbed into the SUV. "Maybe we shouldn't be keeping it a secret."

A tiny smile began to play at Sara's lips. "I thought we decided it was better this way."

"Better for whom?" Nick looked at her fully. His face held a myriad of emotions. "Better for the rest of the team maybe, but not better for us."

She nodded and glanced out the window. She knew he was right. "Yeah." She was getting tired of keeping up a façade around their friends.

Nick started the Denali and pulled it out into traffic. Neither one of them said anything for a while as they headed back towards the lab.

Sara didn't look over at Nick, but continued staring out the window. "Do you think we should tell them?"

"Better now than when we're working on our fifth child." There was a smirk on his face.

Sara tried to look mad, but the smile on her face gave her away. "We are not having five children."

"Look, Sara, I just want the world to know that I'm in love with you. We've proved that we can work together and keep our personal life outside of the lab." He reached over and took her hand, lacing his fingers with hers.

"I know." There was some hesitancy in her voice. "They're all going to kill us for not telling them."

"They'll leave too much evidence." Nick quipped, earning a smile from Sara.

Sara let out a groan. "I feel so guilty lying to a priest."

Nick raised an eyebrow. "Technically you didn't lie since I finished your sentence."

She closed her eyes and shook her head as she started to giggle. "Ok, that right there is a sign that he should know that we were lying."

"But we've been doing that for years, even before we started dating." Nick observed, pleased with himself that he'd found someone to spend his life with that was a perfect compliment to him. They had been finishing each other's sentences almost since they'd met.

Sara let out a sigh. "You know what I don't get?" She glanced over at him and noted his expectant expression. "How none of them picked up on it."

"We have been perfectly professional at work." Nick began.

"Nick, I filed a change of address to where you've lived for the last five years. Grissom signed off on it." Sara rolled her eyes. "If that's not an announcement that our relationship is no longer just professional, I don't know what is."

Nick cleared his throat. "Submitting your name change to HR wasn't very subtle either, but no one seemed to pick up on that."

"Well technically they can't process it until I get my new social security card and we get an official copy of our marriage license." Sara groused.

Nick squeezed her hand. "Both of them came in the mail today. I picked it up right before shift."

Sara couldn't keep the grin from spreading across her face. "That was quick."

Nick pulled into the parking lot of the crime lab. "So I guess maybe we should tell them."

Sara smirked. "It might be a good idea." To emphasize her point, she leaned over and kissed him not too subtly as he turned the ignition off.

Nick smiled against her mouth and then pulled away, mischief dancing in his eyes. "Now then, Mrs. Stokes, let's keep this professional." He let out a chuckle as she swatted at him and rolled her eyes, letting out a laugh of her own.

Without another word, they descended from the vehicle and headed into the lab to see if Grissom had returned from his crime scene.

* * *

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Grissom looked a bit dumbfounded at the announcement he'd just been given.

"We eloped two months ago." Nick repeated, glancing over at Sara who was grinning at him.

Grissom furrowed his brow as he took off his glasses. "So your change of address was to Nick's." The pieces were beginning to slide together. He knew that something had seemed familiar about the address, but he hadn't thought much of it since then. He'd been a bit preoccupied with other changes around the lab, most notably, Ecklie's promotion to assistant director.

"Yes." Sara confirmed. She took a deep breath and continued, stealing a quick glance at Nick. "Uh, we should have said something."

"The reasons we had for keeping it a secret don't really make sense any more." Nick added.

Grissom looked at the pair with a bit of confusion. "What made you think that keeping something as big as getting married a secret was a good idea at all?" He might be the first to confess his failings in relating to people, but even he knew that it was a bad idea to lie about something that important.

Sara interjected. "It was my idea. I didn't want our professionalism to be called into question because our personal relationship had changed."

Grissom raised an incredulous eyebrow at Nick. "And you agreed to this?"

Nick exhaled loudly and glanced at Sara. "I just wanted to be with Sara and at the time I didn't really care what it took for that to happen."

Sara continued. "I can see now that it was a bad idea. I want everyone to know how much I love Nick." She smiled as a wide grin spread across Nick's face.

Veiled amusement began to dance across Grissom's face as the knowledge that two of his CSIs had gotten married began to sink in. "Well one thing is certain."

Nick and Sara looked at him a bit quizzically.

"I think our ranking as the number two lab in the nation is in serious jeopardy." He replaced his glasses and glanced down at a file he'd been reviewing before Nick and Sara had come into his office.

The newlyweds began to protest. Nick cleared his throat. "Gris, we've behaved in a purely professional manner while we've been at work."

He glanced up at their worried faces. "Oh, I don't doubt that. However, the fact that you were able to keep your marriage a secret this long calls into question the observation skills of everyone else in this lab."

Sara looked visibly relieved.

Nick raised an eyebrow in question. "So you're not upset that we didn't tell anyone we got married?"

Grissom's lips twitched into a boyish half smile. "I think congratulations are in order, Mr. and Mrs. Stokes."


	2. Chapter 2

Nick glanced up at Sara from the file he was reviewing and tried not to smile as he noticed her pout. "He said it was up to us."

"I know." She let out a huff and returned her attention to the stack of files they were sifting through for any leads on their missing person's case.

Nick let out a soft chuckle. "Sara, they'll figure it out."

She pursed her lips together and countered. "They haven't figured it out yet."

"True." He smiled. "But we've also been trying to hide it. Now that we're not trying, I don't think it will take them that long."

She glanced up at him again with a furrowed brow. "I'm not sure I want to wait."

Nick chuckled and looked back down at the file. "We can just tell them you know."

"But Grissom has a point. They're all slipping if they didn't at least notice that something was going on between us." Sara fretted.

He looked into her eyes and smiled softly. "Sara, this isn't about them, it's about us. If you don't want to wait, we don't have to. I would be perfectly happy standing up on the break room table and yelling at the top of my lungs that you and I are married."

She couldn't keep from smirking. "Do you think they'd believe you?"

He chuckled and shook his head. "Probably not."

Sara opened her mouth to protest. "And why not?"

He tried to answer diplomatically. "Well, I think some people don't think that I'm your type, that I'm not good enough for you."

"Trust me I know you're my type." She smiled at him seductively. "And you're very good for me."

"You're good for my ego, you know that don't you?" Nick grinned at her.

"The feeling is mutual, baby." Sara grinned back.

They held each other's gaze for a long moment before they were interrupted by Warrick walking into the conference room in search of Nick. The gaze between the two of them wasn't lost on him. "Hey, Nick, if you're done flirting with Sara, I think I've got something that might be related to your case."

Nick didn't even look at Warrick, he just kept grinning at Sara. "I like flirting with Sara."

Warrick's eyes went a little wide. He had gotten so used to Nick denying that he even had feelings for Sara that this admission in front of her took him by surprise. "Excuse me." He looked over at Sara to see what her reaction to this news was.

Sara simply glanced at Warrick with a smirk. "He said he likes flirting with me."

Warrick wasn't sure what to make of the situation. He looked at them both quizzically. "Is there something going on that I should know about?"

Nick did a horrible job at restraining his smile as he looked down at the file in front of him.

Sara only did a slightly better job at keeping her smile to a minimum. "I'm not sure I know what you mean, Warrick."

Warrick stared at them for a long moment studying their body language. He raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Are you two having a thing?"

Nick glanced up at Sara and just cleared his throat. "It's not a thing."

"Uh, huh." Warrick's tone was suspicious as he crossed his arms over his chest. "And I heard that George Bush just decided to become a Democrat."

Nick tried to act natural as he finally turned around to face Warrick. "You said you had something on our case?"

Warrick narrowed his eyes at Nick and Sara. "Yeah."

Nick looked at him expectantly as Sara turned her attention back to the files on the table between them, a faint hue of pink in her cheeks.

Warrick finally spoke again. "If you're not having a thing, are you dating?" There was just something about their demeanor that Warrick wouldn't let go until he had a few more answers.

Sara glanced up and chuckled. "Nick and I are not dating." Mischief was clearly dancing in her eyes.

Nick looked equally guilty. "We're not dating, bro."

Warrick had temporarily forgotten about the case, now he just wanted to get to the bottom of whatever was going on between Nick and Sara. "Right." His tone clearly implied that he didn't believe either one of them.

Nick let out a chuckle and shook his head turning back towards Sara. "We're not lying."

Warrick furrowed his brow. "If you're not dating and you're not having some soft of a thing, what are you having?" He gave them both a pointed stare.

Sara smirked in challenge.

Warrick chuckled at Sara's expression. "Well you sure as hell didn't elope." He thought his statement would get some sort of reaction out of them, but definitely not the one he expected.

Sara immediately looked at Nick with a conspiratorial grin and then looked at the file on the table in front of her.

Nick didn't dare turn around because he knew that his grin would give him completely away.

Warrick's eyebrows slowly went up in disbelief and he considered the idea for a brief moment before laughing nervously. "There is no way you could keep something like that a secret." He was rationalizing that something that huge couldn't get past them.

Nick finally turned back towards Warrick and just lifted his eyebrow in challenge. "Oh?" There was a quality of feigned innocence in his voice.

Warrick's eyes widened again and he looked over at Sara who had a smug expression on her face. He narrowed his gaze at them.

Sara tried to keep from smiling as she glanced at Nick. "Especially not for what? Two months, Nick?"

Nick nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, that sounds about right."

Warrick didn't say a word. He regarded them doubtfully. "Now you're messing with me." He reasoned that they had gotten tired of him teasing each of them about how he thought they felt about the other and had finally put their heads together to get back at him.

Nick was having a hard time not laughing. "We wouldn't do that to you, man."

Sara just sat back and grinned at Warrick.

Warrick was getting a little flustered. "Ok, one of you, tell me what is going on." His tone was decidedly paternal.

"I thought you had it figured out." Sara teased with a waggle of her eyebrows.

Nick smirked at him and spoke in a conspiratorial tone. "We eloped."

"No." Warrick looked at them with complete disbelief.

Sara nodded, letting out a giggle. "Yes."

Warrick still wasn't sure he believed them. "Eloped?"

"July 31st." Nick had a completely serious expression on his face.

Warrick looked at Sara and shook his head. "I don't believe it."

"We can bring in the marriage license if that would help. I have to take a copy to HR to have my name changed anyway." Sara confirmed.

Warrick's jaw dropped. "You're serious?"

Nick nodded.

"That was two months ago." Warrick's expression bordered on hurt for not being told sooner.

Sara's tone was soft. "If it makes you feel any better, we didn't tell anyone at work until today."

"The only ones that knew are my family." Nick added.

"Married. You two." Warrick was trying to let the information sink in.

Nick and Sara exchanged an amused glance before Nick cleared his throat. "Uh, bro, didn't you say you had something related to our case?"

Warrick shook himself out of his reverie and nodded. "Just waiting for Sanders to confirm the DNA, but it looks like your missing persons might be my homicide." He looked at them again in disbelief. "You got married two months ago. When the hell did you start dating?"


	3. Chapter 3

There was an edge of panic in Sara's voice. "Don't you think we should stop and get Greg a card or something?"

Nick reached over and took her hand and gave it a quick squeeze before turning his attention back to driving. He was quickly threading his Denali through the morning traffic on the way to Desert Palm Hospital. "I'm sure he's going to be fine, babe."

She let out a groan. "I feel so guilty."

Nick chuckled in amusement. "Sara, we're married. Why should you feel guilty?"

She shot a glare his direction from the passenger seat. "If he hadn't caught us in there this would have never happened."

Nick raised an eyebrow. "Since when are you against a little love in the morning?" His mind quickly pulled several examples from his memory in case he needed to defend his position.

She smirked. "I'm not. The location, however, was probably not the best choice."

"Well I'm sorry I suggested it. It just never occurred to me that anyone would need to look in there at that time of day." Nick lamely defended.

She looked at him doubtfully. "I think the sound effects were what drew his attention, honey."

He looked a little put out. "You always like it when I do that." His brow furrowed dejectedly.

She cleared her throat to keep from laughing. "I do, it's just if we ever attempt that at work again, we might want to keep things a little quieter."

A mischievous and hopeful smile formed on his lips. "So you'd be open to trying that at work again?"

Sara put on her best stern expression, her smile giving her away. "Nick, let's worry about Greg. We can worry about the rest of this when we get home."

Nick let out a chuckle. "I'm sure he's fine." He glanced over at Sara. "Did you see the look on Hank's face?" Nick seemed to puff his chest out a little further. Hank Pedigrew had been one of the paramedics who had responded to the 9-1-1 call to treat Greg. He had taken one look at the disheveled appearances of Nick and Sara and put two and two together.

Sara rolled her eyes. "Hank is a prick. I don't really care what his face looked like."

Nick chuckled; Sara might not care, but he had take a great deal of satisfaction from the shocked expression on Hank's face, especially when Nick had corrected him on Sara's last name. The color had drained out of Hank's face to the point that Nick was almost certain that he was going to need treatment.

Sara raised her eyebrows at Nick. "Baby, sometimes you act like a gorilla."

He grinned as he turned into the hospital parking lot. "But I'm your gorilla." He pulled the SUV into a parking spot near the ER and turned off the ignition.

Sara let out a worried sigh and turned towards Nick. "I hope he doesn't have heart failure when we finally get a chance to tell him that we're married."

Nick leaned in and kissed her softly. "I'm sure as long as he's sitting down, or laying down, that he'll be fine."

They descended from the vehicle and made their way into the ER hand in hand, noticing the other CSIs already sitting in the waiting area. Nick glanced at Grissom as he and Sara sat down in adjoining seats. "Any news?"

"We're still waiting." Grissom informed them.

"You know, you could have made sure he was sitting down before you broke the news to him." Warrick quipped, still in disbelief that Nick and Sara were actually married.

"Or locked the door." Catherine raised an eyebrow. She had seen Greg pass out, hitting his head on the doorframe on the way down and went to help. When she glanced up and noticed that Nick and Sara were furiously trying to pull themselves together, the pieces slid together with crystal clarity. Earlier in the shift Warrick had filled her in on their news.

Shock registered on Grissom's face. "Door?" He narrowed his gaze at Nick and Sara. "Care to explain?"

"Not really." Nick replied quickly under his breath.

Sara elbowed him in the ribs. "Your idea, you explain." She shot him a meaningful glare.

Nick swallowed hard and looked up at Grissom. "I, uh, we."

Sara elbowed him again.

Nick tried to look sheepish. "I was in the middle of changing my shirt and Sara came into the locker room and things kind of got out of hand." He winced slightly anticipating Grissom's response.

Catherine let out a deep throaty chuckle. "Leaving a little bit out, aren't we?"

Nick glared at her. "Thanks, Cath."

Sara felt her cheeks flushing and cleared her throat, glancing over at Warrick. "I think I'll go see if I can find something out about how Greg is." She moved to stand, but Nick took her hand and pulled her back down next to him.

"We're in this together." Nick smirked.

Just then the doctor approached them. "Are you all here for Gregory Sanders?"

"Yes." Grissom began.

A worried Sara interrupted. "Is he ok?"

The doctor smiled. "He's got a nasty bump on his head and a bit of a concussion, but he should be just fine. We're going to keep him overnight for observation just as a precaution since he lost consciousness for a short time."

"Thank you." Grissom remarked, glancing at Nick and Sara with a look that indicated that their conversation was not over.

"As soon as they move him up to a room, you should be able to see him." The doctor gestured towards the nurses' station. "Someone over there can tell you what room they set him up in." With that he turned and headed back in the direction he'd come from.

Sara let out a soft groan. "I feel so bad, and we haven't even told him that we're married yet."

"Honey, who knew that he'd pass out?" Nick placed a reassuring hand on her back.

Catherine laughed. "He doesn't know yet?"

"Well then you'd better be sure to tell him while he's still in the hospital." Warrick teased.

Grissom cleared his throat and looked at Nick and Sara with an expression that was decidedly paternal. "Maybe this is a good time to clarify that I expect you two to keep your relationship outside of the lab. At least the extracurricular aspects of it."


	4. Chapter 4

Greg glanced up as he heard the door to his hospital room creak open. His eyes widened as he saw Nick and Sara walk in holding hands. He mumbled. "I didn't imagine it, did I?"

Nick shook his head, a bit sheepishly. "No, you didn't." He squeezed Sara's hand.

"We were going to tell you. We didn't mean for you to see that." Sara blushed at the memory of what they were doing when Greg walked into the locker room. Nick had indeed been changing his shirt when Sara had walked in, but by the time Greg walked in, things had heated up considerably; their hands were underneath articles of clothing while the two of them were engaged in a rather steamy kiss.

Greg looked at them for a long moment before trusting himself to speak. "So how long has this thing or fling between you been going on?" He looked a bit hurt that he hadn't known that anything was going on between his two friends, especially since he was still trying to figure out how to get Sara to go out with him.

Nick cleared his throat. "Uh, it's not really a thing exactly."

Greg furrowed his brow. "So it's a fling then?" He looked a bit shocked that Sara would consent to a steamy office romance, unless of course it was with him.

Nick shook his head. "It's not a fling either."

"But you were." Greg gestured. "And she was." A sly grin spread across Greg's face. "It looked a little kinky." He winced as he quickly arched his brows. "Pretty hot actually."

Sara's face was quickly turning red. The last thing she wanted to do was getting into a detailed discussion with Greg about what was going on in the locker room. "Uh, what Nick is trying to say is that things are more serious than that."

"Serious?" Greg looked a little worried. "How serious?" His voice cracked a little.

Nick glanced over at Sara and smiled as he squeezed her hand. He turned back towards Greg. "Very serious."

Sara rolled her eyes and whispered loudly. "Nick just tell him. It's not going to be any easier if you insist on torturing him.

"I'm not torturing him." Nick chuckled softly.

Panic registered on Greg's face. "What are you not telling me?"

Before Nick could draw things out any further, Sara cut to the chase. "Nick and I got married."

Greg's eyes went wide and the color drained out of his face for a moment. Nick and Sara glanced at each other wondering if Greg was going to pass out again. Greg just looked at them in disbelief. His mouth moved like a fish, opening and closing over and over again until finally, he managed to choke out a single word. "Married?"

Nick and Sara nodded in unison. Sara looked at Greg again. "We eloped."

Greg still was trying to process the information and was having a difficult time doing so. "Eloped?"

Nick nodded and grinned, looking pretty pleased with himself. "Two months ago." He puffed his chest out a little bit and couldn't resist putting his arm around Sara's waist, pulling her close and kissing her on the cheek.

That last little bit of information and the display of affection caused Greg to start hyperventilating. "Two." He was having a hard time getting his words out. "Months."

Sara's brow furrowed in concern as she nodded. "Yeah." She glanced at Nick and then back at Greg. "Greg?" Her tone was even and in control. "Listen to my voice."

Greg's eyes were wide and he looked like he was close to passing out.

"I want you to listen to my voice and don't let out a breath until I count to one, ok?" Sara wanted to try and get Greg to calm down. "When you can do that, we'll go to two."

Greg nodded furiously, trying to slow his breathing.

"Ok, count to one." Sara stepped over and took Greg's hand giving it a squeeze.

Greg seemed to be getting a better grip on his breathing.

"You got that?" Sara spoke softly, glancing at Nick who seemed to be impressed by her first aid skills, even in the middle of a hospital.

Greg nodded.

"Ok, now let's go to two." Sara kept her tone even until Greg's breathing had gotten back to normal. "You ok?"

Greg nodded, flashing her an apologetic grin. "Sorry about that. The marriage thing just sort of took me by surprise."

Sara glanced back at Nick who had an eyebrow raised at her and his arms crossed over his chest. "What?"

"They have doctors for that you know." He was trying hard not to laugh. "How did you know to do that anyway?"

"I had a roommate who had asthma." She smirked back.

Greg's color was a bit more normal now and he cleared his throat. "Can I ask you guys something?"

Sara and Nick both turned his direction and spoke simultaneously. "Sure."

"Why did you keep it a secret?" There was a bit of hurt in Greg's expression. "Everyone would have been supportive."

Sara glanced at the floor for a moment. "It was my idea." She glanced at Greg before looking at Nick. "And for the record it was a really stupid one."

Nick grinned. "I love you too, honey."

"So, why did you decide to go public anyway?" Greg looked at Sara intently for a moment. "You're not pregnant are you?"

Sara's eyes widened and she began to protest in earnest. "No, I am not pregnant, we're not planning on getting pregnant, not anytime soon anyway."

Nick chuckled and encircled Sara's waist from behind with his arms, resting his chin on her shoulder. "A priest asked us if we were married and we kind of figured if he could tell we probably weren't going to be fooling anyone for very much longer." He let out a sigh. "We should have told you. We should have told everyone."

Sara rested her head back on Nick's shoulder. "Baby, we should let Greg get some rest."

Greg smirked. "Don't leave on my account." He regarded them with a bit of amusement. "But don't let me stop you either, I'm not sure I could handle a repeat from earlier."

Nick laughed. "I really am sorry about that man. We'll try and keep it at home from now on."

"I hope your head feels better soon." Sara gave Greg a sincere smile as Nick let her out of his embrace and took her hand.

"Thanks." He smiled and closed his eyes as Nick and Sara headed out the door of his hospital room hand in hand.


	5. Chapter 5

"Well it looks like the newlyweds just don't know when to quit." Warrick pointed and quipped as he and Catherine were headed back to his Denali after visiting Greg in the hospital. Several rows over, leaning up against one Las Vegas Crime Lab issued Denali were Nick and Sara in the midst of a rather intense lip lock.

Catherine had a bit of a mischievous glint in her eye. "Think we should break it up?"

Warrick let out at deep chuckle. "After what happened with Sanders it might be a good idea."

The pair quietly stole over towards Nick and Sara, but most likely could have approached with all the subtlety of a Panzer division of tanks. It wasn't until Warrick had given up clearing his throat and actually spoke a bit forcefully that Nick and Sara realized that they weren't alone.

"Nick. Sara." Warrick's tone cut through the lusty fog that seemed to enshroud the couple.

Nick and Sara stepped apart quickly. Nick tried to catch his breath as he glared at Warrick. "You near about gave me a heart attack." His drawl was decidedly more pronounced than normal.

For her part, Sara held her hand over her heart trying to catch her breath. "Did you guys need something?"

Catherine raised an amused eyebrow. "Just trying to say 'hello' before we head back to the lab."

Nick looked a little confused. "Lab?" He couldn't understand why Catherine and Warrick would be heading back to the lab if shift was over since they'd closed their case, unless he'd been kissing Sara longer than he realized and they needed to get to work themselves.

Warrick chuckled at Nick's bewildered expression. "We carpooled."

"Uh, yeah." Nick fumbled with his words. That made more sense. As much as he had confidence in his own stamina, even he didn't think he was that good, but then they had only been kissing.

"Do you two want to catch breakfast?" Catherine queried, curious to get the whole story behind how their romance had blossomed.

"Uh." Nick glanced over at Sara.

She let out a soft giggle at Nick's inability to speak clearly. "That would be nice."

"The diner?" Warrick suggested.

"Sure." Sara agreed, reaching over and taking Nick's hand. "We'll meet you there."

"Today." Warrick glanced at Nick with a meaningful stare.

Nick feigned a protest. "What? I was just kissing my wife."

Catherine just shook her head in amusement. "If we don't see you in ten minutes should we assume you two went home?"

Sara smirked and plucked the keys off of Nick's belt. "No need. I'll be driving."

"Hey, that's my ride." Nick began to protest.

Sara simply raised a single eyebrow at him. "And I'm hungry."

"Ok, honey." Nick grinned at her.

Warrick snorted out a laugh at Nick's comment. "Man you are so whipped."

Nick glanced over at Warrick and just kept grinning. "You say that like it's a bad thing."

"So we'll see you at the diner in a few minutes then." Sara really was hungry and as much as she had enjoyed the kiss they'd been sharing, Nick had promised a few things that they'd need some energy for later.

Twenty minutes later, the four CSIs were seated at a booth in the diner around the corner from the lab. They were there with such regularity that the waitress just walked up to the table and cocked her eyebrow. "The usual?"

"We sure will, Claire." Nick grinned and stretched his arm around Sara.

Catherine let out a chuckle.

Claire simply raised her other eyebrow. "So you finally got around to asking her out then."

Nick and Sara exchanged a glance and then started to laugh.

"Worse than that, Claire." Warrick quipped. "They eloped two months ago and didn't tell anyone."

A smile spread across Claire's face and she turned back towards the kitchen and yelled. "Karl you owe me two hundred bucks! They got hitched." She turned back towards Nick and Sara and smiled. "It's on me today."

Nick leaned forward and in a conspiratorial whisper queried Claire. "Uh, were we that obvious?"

Claire deadpanned. "I've been married for thirty years. I spotted you a mile away."

Sara looked perplexed as Claire walked away. "Who in the hell were we fooling? First Father Ryan and now Claire."

"You fooled us." Catherine confessed with a smile. "I thought maybe there might be something going on between you, but I would never have guessed that you two got married until Warrick told me."

"And we're CSIs." Warrick commented wryly.

"We're just good." Nick grinned as he leaned over and kissed Sara's cheek.

Catherine cleared her throat just to remind them that they weren't alone. "So exactly how did this happen anyway?"

Sara's cheeks suddenly reddened a bit and she glanced at Nick who was just grinning a bit wider. She turned back towards Warrick and Catherine and smiled. "Well, we." She swallowed a bit hard, not exactly sure how to explain.

Nick sensing her hesitance decided to just cut to the chase. "I asked her on a date."

Sara rolled her eyes and looked over at him. "It was a little more than a date."

"It was a very long date." Nick smirked at her.

She turned back towards Catherine and Warrick. "He invited me to go to the wedding of one of his frat brothers." She glanced over at Nick. "And as I recall, it didn't start out as a date. It was supposed to be a favor."

Warrick glanced at Nick. "Your first date was a wedding?"

"In Texas." Sara added.

Catherine looked a little shocked. "When was this?"

Sara furrowed her brow as she looked at Nick. "What? Would you say about eight months ago?"

He nodded. "That sounds about right."

"So if it didn't start out as a date, when did this happen?" Catherine looked at them with unveiled interest.

Sara cheeks reddened a bit again.

Nick let out a soft chuckle and tightened his arm around Sara's shoulder, kissing the top of her head. "Sara caught the bouquet, I caught the garter and the rest is history."

"Uh, huh." Catherine sounded like she didn't completely buy the story.


	6. Chapter 6

Warrick raised a curious eyebrow. "So she caught the bouquet and you caught the garter. How does that translate into eloping and keeping it a secret?"

Nick smirked and he knew that Sara was doing her best to keep the color out of her cheeks. If he told the exact truth he'd probably be sleeping on the couch for a week, and he just didn't want to take that risk.

Sara sincerely hoped that Nick could think on his feet and tell the truth without telling the whole truth, because if they knew the whole truth she wasn't sure she'd be comfortable showing her face around the lab for the next twenty or thirty years.

Catherine let out a deep throaty laugh as she watched their faces. "Why do I get the feeling that you don't really want to tell how this happened?"

"I just want to make sure I don't leave a single detail out." Nick grinned a bit too wide.

Sara reached under the table and squeezed his thigh hard to emphasize that she hoped he wasn't serious all the while smiling as she looked over at Warrick and Catherine.

Nick winced slightly and then glanced over at Sara. "Do you want to tell them, or do you want me to tell them?"

Sara slid her hand up his thigh a little higher and squeezed it again as she leaned over and gave him a quick kiss, smiling as she looked into his eyes. "You tell them." Her meaning to Nick was clear, 'tell all the details and you'll be singing soprano'.

He turned back towards Warrick and Catherine. "Well, Sara and I danced after that and I think we knew that something was happening between us."

That was the truth, something was definitely happening between them as they danced. Sara's proximity to Nick was making him extremely aroused and she could tell. But since all eyes were on them and the bride and groom, they kept on dancing.

Sara continued smiling and interjected before Nick could say anything else. "We just couldn't seem to stop dancing."

That was true too because the longer they danced, the more aroused Nick seemed to get and they were afraid if they stepped apart, it would be obvious to the rest of the guests. Nick had whispered in her ear and begged her to keep dancing until they could figure out a way to discreetly maneuver off of the dance floor since his parents were attending the wedding.

Nick casually slung his arm over Sara's shoulder again. "And after a while, we decided that we wanted to spend a little time alone." He glanced over at Sara. "Isn't that right, babe?"

She shot him a grin that he knew was more of a glare and nodded. "Yeah, that's right. We wanted to talk about what was going on between us."

Truth be told, Sara had agreed to walk in front of him up to his hotel room so that he could relieve himself of his embarrassment in the privacy of his room, but as they got to his door he realized that he'd lost his key card and so after shooting Sara a pretty pathetic and desperate expression, they went to her room instead.

"And I let her know exactly how I felt about her." Nick squeezed Sara's shoulder and kissed her cheek.

As soon as they had gotten into the hotel room, Nick rushed towards the bathroom intent on relieving the tension that had been building. The sounds emitting through the not quite closed door had Sara feeling very hot and bothered and she was having a hard time listening to him since she knew that she was the reason he was in that condition in the first place.

Sara smiled. "He made it very clear how he felt, and as I recall, I let him know how I felt too."

Nick had exited the bathroom with a look of relief on his face as he finished zipping up his slacks. He was going to thank Sara for being so understanding when he noticed her sitting on the bed looking a bit shell shocked. With a furrowed brow, he had said her name and as she looked up he saw something he didn't expect in her eyes.

"Yes, you did." He grinned at her.

The next thing Nick had known he was being pulled down onto the bed by Sara and the shirt he'd just tucked in was being tugged out. By the time they'd returned from orbit, the wedding reception was long since over and even though Nick was fairly certain his parents had probably noticed that he and Sara were gone, he really didn't care. He had been interested in Sara since the day he'd met her and he knew his parents loved her the moment they met her.

"So you had some sort of relational epiphany at this wedding?" Catherine was still sure that they weren't giving her and Warrick all of the details.

"Yes." Nick affirmed just as their meals arrived.

Warrick interjected. "So that's when you decided to date each other then." He was just as skeptical as Catherine that they were only telling part of the truth.

Sara nodded. "We've pretty much been inseparable since then, except at work."

Nick let out a soft chuckle as he began to eat his food. "That's right."

They had been inseparable and insatiable. As soon as shift was over they were together, and even though this new phase of their relationship was very physical, the fact that they'd been good friends for four years prior to that just added fuel to the fire.

Catherine cleared her throat. "So when did marriage enter the picture?"

Sara looked over at Nick and smiled genuinely. "It was pretty spontaneous actually."

Nick leaned over and kissed her, smiling against her lips. "I told her that I didn't want to spend another day without knowing she would be in my life forever."

For the first time since they'd sat down, a slightly incredulous expression crossed Catherine's face.

Sara glanced at the other two CSIs. "He even got down on one knee. I never thought anyone would do that for me, and then when he pulled out this ring." Sara's smile widened.

"You have never seen so many tears from one woman." Nick grinned as a faint blush hued Sara's cheeks.

"So where are your rings now?" Catherine queried, knowing that she'd never seen either one of them wear one.

Sara leaned her head against Nick's shoulder. "At home."

"But they're coming out today, aren't they, honey?" Nick seemed relaxed and very peaceful at the thought that they didn't have to keep their marriage a secret any longer.

"Yeah." She smiled softly.

Warrick just chuckled from the other side of the table. "As sappy as you two are, I hope that I'm just as damn lucky someday."

Catherine smirked at him. "You just never know when you might get lucky."


	7. Chapter 7

Sara glanced over at Nick with a meaningful stare as they walked towards the Denali. "Nice save in there." She was glad that Nick had been creative in telling just enough of the truth to not embarrass either one of them.

He let out a soft chuckle and took her hand. "I promised you that the details of that night would never be revealed, and I'm not about to go back on a promise, especially to you."

"Good, because you would have been spending some quality time on the couch if you had." Sara didn't know why the situation embarrassed her so much; she just didn't want their relationship reduced to locker room gossip.

Nick squeezed her hand and Sara leaned up to kiss him, feeling him smile against her lips.

As they stepped apart, Nick looked at her quizzically. "How would you feel about making one more stop on the way home?"

She furrowed her brow. "Where do we need to stop?" She mentally went down a checklist of household errands they needed to run, but none of them were immediate needs. They had planned to run errands on the weekend when they both had a night off and could spend some quality time together.

He could see the gears working in her mind and he smiled. "I thought maybe we should go back and see Father Ryan and do a little confessing." He knew how badly she'd felt about lying to the priest and for his part, Nick wanted to thank the man for being the catalyst that had finally gotten their secret out into the open.

She let out a groan and covered her eyes with her hand for a moment before looking at Nick. "You know I wouldn't have this inherent guilt about lying to a priest if I hadn't been subjected to Catholic school."

"So is that a 'yes' then?" Nick teased as they stopped at the side of the Denali.

She looked into his eyes with a smile on her face. "Have I told you how much I love you?"

"You might have mentioned it once or twice." He smiled back, leaning down and giving her a quick kiss before opening the passenger door for her.

* * *

Sara looked over at Nick with a slightly incredulous look on her face as they walked into their house. "Did today really happen?"

He shut the front door behind him and walked over to where Sara stood by the dining room table, wrapping his arms around her. "Yes, it really happened. We finally went public." He smiled as he rested his chin on the top of her head; he loved the feel of Sara in his arms.

Sara relaxed into his embrace. "I feel so bad about Greg's head." She had winced at the thwacking sound it had made when it had hit the door frame as Greg passed out; it was what had prompted Nick and Sara to break apart from their amorous embrace in the locker room.

"He's going to be fine, babe." He kissed her cheek and smiled. He was so glad that the secret that they had worked so hard to keep was finally out. He loved Sara and he wanted the whole world to know that. His only regret was that they hadn't done it sooner.

Sara closed her eyes for a moment and just enjoyed being close to Nick, savoring the rise and fall of his chest as she rested against him. When she finally opened her eyes a few moments later she let out a groan as she noticed the time on the clock on the wall. "We only have time for a few hours of sleep before we have to be back for shift."

"Then we'll sleep." He let out a soft sigh. "I'm just so glad we don't have to hide this anymore, Sara." He hugged her a little closer. He was glad at least that his parents had known from the get go about their relationship, he didn't think he could have hidden it from them if he wanted to.

Sara pulled back and looked into his eyes. "I'm really sorry that I even suggested the idea. Everyone should know how much I love you." She leaned up and kissed him softly. She felt badly that she had insisted that they should keep their relationship and marriage a secret. Nick had been so patient and she loved him so much that she couldn't imagine what in the world she was thinking when she'd suggested it.

As they broke apart, Nick was grinning. "Let's get some sleep, ok?" If anyone had told him when he'd first met her that he'd get to marry her, he would never have believed them. He was glad that his wildest dreams had actually come true.

She nodded and they made their way into the bedroom to get ready to go to sleep. Sara quickly brushed her teeth and changed into her pajamas and after she had crawled into bed she wondered what was taking Nick so long. He had gone into the bathroom to brush his teeth, but the water had stopped running a while ago. When he finally emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later he had a mischievous grin on his face and he held one of his hands behind his back.

Sara looked at him suspiciously. "What are you up to?" She let out a giggle as he crawled into bed next to her, still keeping his hand hidden.

He smiled at her, leaning over and planting a kiss on her forehead before looking into her eyes. "We forgot to do something. We can't go to sleep yet."

His impish expression made her giggle. She smirked at him as she wondered what he was hiding behind his back. "Baby, we have to actually sleep."

He chuckled and leaned his face close to hers. "We will, but we need to do something first." He leaned towards her to kiss her.

Sara pulled back, putting a finger against his lips, looking into his eyes with a serious expression. "Nick." It wasn't that she didn't want him, she did; she just knew how tired they'd be during the next shift if they picked up where they'd left off earlier.

He just grinned at her as he looked into her eyes. "Just give me your left hand." He pulled his hand out from behind his back to reveal what he'd been hiding.

Suddenly his intention was clear and Sara found herself feeling very emotional as she held out her left hand and watched as Nick slid her wedding ring onto it. She let out a sniffle as she realized that he had already placed his wedding ring where it belonged on his own hand. "Oh, Nick." It struck her at that moment how foolish she felt for keeping the symbol of their commitment hidden from the world.

Nick leaned down and kissed her, murmuring against her lips. "I love you so much." He whispered. "No more secrets."

"No more secrets." And suddenly, Sara didn't care how tired she was going to be at work, she just wanted Nick to know just how much she loved him as she gave herself over to the moment.

_**The End**_


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